The Trouble with Being the Man in Charge of Horse Assignments
by SwampTreader
Summary: Levi is having a hard time with these blasted horse assignments.


Contrary to the glorified persona the public had given Levi Rivaille, his position as Captain actually consisted of quite a few mundane tasks. One of the items on his never-ending to-do list was approving horse assignments. He had already been working on them for almost an hour now. Sometimes he truly wondered if it was such a wise idea putting that guy with the affinity for handkerchiefs on mount duty. Approving horse assignments was probably the most tedious paperwork he ever had to do. Everytime new recruits were added to the ranks horses had to be assigned and re-assigned and then re-assigned again. And that wasn't even including all the other parts of horse paperwork. Whenever a soldier died, his horse is either recovered or classified as MIA when it does not return. Because of this, new horses had to constantly be ordered in from the capital and that in itself was a whole new stack of forms that had to be filled out. Honestly, Levi wished he could just assign horses to start with and then he wouldn't have to sit for hours on end going through the list of recruits and their corresponding mounts, scribbling notes here and there, making ridiculous little tables of who needed to be reassigned to what horse and what horse needed to be reassigned to which soldier. Sometimes Levi honestly thought the horses were more intelligent than some of the humans he encountered in the Survey Corps.

He was almost ready to scrap the entire list and march down to stables and do assignments himself. The man with way too much on his shoulders leaned back in his chair and stretched his aching muscles. Sitting still for too long always left him sore. He supposed it must been from his constant activity and training throughout the day that made his muscles clench unreasonably tight when he was at rest for extended periods of time. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with one finger as he leaned forward to grab up the papers before him. He stood and paced the room, scanning over various names.

He knew the horses at the stables pretty well, knew what their quirks were, knew how ornery or how docile each one was. He actually spent the majority of his time with the horses, riding every single new mount that came in from the capitol, getting at least a small feel for its individual personality. He had others below him in charge of testing out the horses in addition to himself, keeping them well cared for, teaching new recruits how to ride and ultimately and most importantly, assigning each soldier a horse. Mount assignment were a vital part of the Survey Corps. Honestly, those graceful creatures were a soldier's first line of defense outside the walls. It would be pointless to give a green rider and experienced, feisty stallion only to have the human thrown and eaten by a titan because he couldn't control his horse. This was why he felt it important to get to know each horse at least a little. He knew he could trust his subordinates decisions on riding talent of each soldier and also the experience level required for each horse, but sometimes things had to be changed a bit. Levi had a sixth sense when it came to matching up mount and rider.

For example, he needed to give the best of the new recruits the most reliable mounts. Eren Jaeger, Armin Artlert and Mikasa Ackerman were resting heavily on his mind. Eren had been assigned a horse, a big mare named Mindeska, but it had just been a quick assignment at the time, just thought through enough so he wouldn't get thrown during transportation to the old Survey Corps headquarters. But the more Levi thought about it, the better he thought of the match. The mare was fast, strong, agile, surprisingly clever and she always obeyed commands at the slightest touch. Actually, besides Erwin and Levi's own mounts, that mare was probably the best in the stables. Yes, Mindeska and Eren were a good pair. Ness had assigned Miner to Armin. It was a terrible match actually. Miner was among the tallest horses in the Scout Regiment, and very ornery. Levi was currently gazing out towards the stables searching through the horses in the small paddock trying to find the two he was debating between for Armin. The young soldier seemed a bit nervous, brilliant, but a little spooky. It would not do for a spooky kid to be put on a spooky horse. Rivaille was actually quite astounded when Armin's scores came back from his riding test. He was a talented rider, scoring among the highest of the new recruits, higher than Eren actually. But riding inside the walls and riding beside titans were two totally different matters. The Captain had a feeling Armin would need a small, calm, intelligent mount. There was an older gelding he was thinking of assigning to Artlert, a little horse named Parrot. He was among the smallest of the Survey horses, standing at only 15.3 hands. Parrot was very smart, quick despite his size and could make decisions based on what was happening around him. He was loyal and had survived many recon missions outside the walls. He always returned to his rider, and if fallen, he would search out the other Survey horses. Levi spotted the little bay standing quietly beside two bickering horses at the hitching post. He would reassign Artlert to Parrot, it would be a smart match.

Mikasa Ackerman. The quiet, raven-haired beauty that always kept a hawk's watch on Armin and Eren. She plaugued his thoughts too frequently to be called appropriate but despite his own curiosity about her, she was an invaluable soldier. The top of her class and although he had yet to see her in action, he knew she would one day soon surpass Erwin and rival his own skill. She needed the perfect horse. One that would keep her safe. The Captain did not doubt her ability to keep a level head while riding, no matter what was going on around her so she would not need an independent horse like Armin needed Parrot. No, Mikasa needed a horse that would give her the best chance of survival. She had scored towards the top of the new recruits in her riding scores, nothing outstanding (unlike her combat skills) but nowhere close to the clumsiness of Springer at the bottom of the riding list. He glanced through the names of the horses on the list, matching up the names with memory of how each responded to commands, individual personality and personal physical ability. The mare she was assigned to now would not do. The horse was good but not good enough; too slow, not quick enough on it's feet and far too flighty to keep someone as valuable as Mikasa Ackerman alive.

Levi rested his weight against his hands on the bottom frame of the window sill. It was almost evening now and he still had to pester that brat Yeager about cleaning the first floor hallway.

There was stallion that had been unassigned for a few months now, ever since his rider was killed in the last mission outside the walls. The horse was a tall bay with a white spot on his withers. Levi remembered that detail when he'd reached down to pat the horse on the neck after he'd finished running him months ago. The stallion's name was Hugo, stabled between a gelding named DeWitt and a stallion named Roscoe. Hugo was fast, the long legs supporting his 17 hand frame just ate up the ground when he galloped. He was agile too, able to dodge and pivot at a seconds notice. He was a typical, noisy ornery stallion that liked to bite when he was off-duty but that horse transformed when he had a rider on his back. Hugo became a horse with a purpose and a ridiculously level head. He responded to the slightest pressure on the bit or the softest nudge of a knee. Hugo was looking to be a good match for Mikasa Ackerman. The only thing that concerned Levi was that the big stallion spooked at some of the most ridiculous things when he was on the Survey stable grounds. He hoped the bay with the white spot wouldn't panic when he was being chased by hungry titans, carrying Ackerman on his back.

But the Captain felt good about the match and he was tired so he scribbled and scratched down the three new horse assignments on a separate sheet of paper under a column of many other names and called it a night… for now at least. Now he had to deal with the brat cleaning that hallway. "Jaeger!"


End file.
